In the recent employment Appeal Tribunal case of  DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd v Doolan set down some important principles about how an employer should deal with the inherently difficult issue of employee ill health. Also, coming out of the case, in which the original Tribunal decision that the employer had unfairly dismissed were the following useful points and principles :-

• If  a GP certifies an employee as only generally fit to return to work, this does not mean that the employer must take this as medical advice that the employee can return to the same post
• Dismissal is a managerial issue not a medical one

General  employment law principles were also restated. These are worth remembering and are as follows :-

•             did the employer genuinely believe the stated reason for dismissing

•             was that belief based on a reasonable investigation

•             did the employer have “reasonable grounds” for reaching it’s conclusion (this is important as the Tribunal cannot substitute it’s own view on the dismissal, the employer need only show objective reasonable grounds.

Employee use of social media at work has become an ever increasing problem for employers in a number of ways. Not only can it severely affect productivity but may also constitute a risk of sensitive information and data being deliberately or inadvertently being posted or tweeted on the net. An increasing number of employment law disputes and Tribunal claims now involve issues surrounding internet use and social media issues. Employers are now taking the issue very seriously, as a new study suggests and are amending employment contracts and policies accordingly.

A new study by Lewis Communications and HCL Technologies of 2,500 businesses shows that nearly 50% of UK companies ban employees from using social media at work.

The difficulty, as much as anything with this issue, is policing. Can small and medium employers afford, either financially or in time terms, to monitor whether staff are complying with the prohibition ? Policing a  ban may also cause practical (privacy settings) and legal (snooping and privacy) issues, and even if computer use can be monitored , what about smartphones ? All in all, a very important but complex issue, in both employment law, privacy law and practical terms.

Contact Bournemouth Solicitors for practical help with any kind of employment law issue, policies or procedures.

The independent Hargreaves review is scheduled for release next week and may herald some major changes to copyright law, an increasingly important area in the ever changing digital era. The review was instigated due to concerns that Britain’s copyright laws are no longer adequate in the new era and one key question is whether the review will advocate US-style “fair use” provision, which would allow use of limited amounts of other people’s content without needing permission. This is a contentious point with powerful content content providers in music and film who are against such a copyright law change.

In addition to dealing with possible changes to copyright law, it is believed and hoped that the review will encompass a wider consideration of IP law, especially as it affects small and medium business. The law is very complex and fragmented at the moment and yet few businesses can avoid intellectual property and IP legal issues and rights issues, so any simplification, streamlining and modernisation of the law is most welcome.

We will update again once the Hargreaves Report is published.